MMus, Wits School of Arts, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / This research report explores the compositional identity South African composers, mostly
born after 1976, are constructing. I conduct a critical ethnographic micro study of the
Wits Contemporary Performance Ensemble (WCPE), a group of young composers and
performers dedicated to workshopping and performing new compositions. South African
compositional identity is explored and problematised in Chapter 1, along with the
identification of two schools or types of composition within South Africa. The history
and formation of the WCPE is discussed in Chapter 2, while the third chapter draws on
interview data to present and problematise the field in which young composers work,
discussing a series of perceived ‘lacks’ that affect their ability to produce new music. The
fourth chapter critiques and evaluates the progress the WCPE made, using Timothy
Rice’s model of the Subject-Centered Musical Ethnography (2003), to interpret what the
music of these young composers is saying about the time and place in which they live.
The conclusion considers the impact the WCPE has had on young South African
composers and the necessity of a group like this in the formation of a new South African
compositional voice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/8247 |
| Date | 30 June 2010 |
| Creators | Mullins, Angela Catherine |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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